Creative taking pre-orders on their Zen Touch MP3 player
By Peter Rojas 
posted July 19th 2004 1:08PM
posted July 19th 2004 1:08PM
Right at the same time as the announcement of a brand new iPod is probably just about the worst time you could ask
for your new MP3 player to go on sale, but Creative has started taking pre-orders on their new 20GB Zen Touch. The Zen
Touch has the distinction of being the first MP3 player with a linear-style touchpad controller, a battery life of 24
hours, and the smallest and lightest player in Creative's burgeoning Zen series.
[Thanks, z3rolatency]
now I can replace the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra I bought in January that shot craps on me.
Oh, wait, no I won't. Creative will never get another penny of my money.
What's the source for this story? It doesn't seem to be shipping from any site. Has someone who pre-ordered it, received it?
Not sure about the reliability of your source. Here is a reply to an email I sent today asking about the Zen Touch's availability.
---------------
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Creative Labs online customer service.
Unfortunately, we do not have an exact date at this time but the Touch
should be available by the end of the month. Please keep in contact
with us and we will update you with any new information.
Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this
email.
--------------
Of course the release might not have reached the customer service crew, but I would think they would be the first to know.
Oh well, I really hope your source knows more then the CS guy.
Is that "linear" touchpad thingy supposed to work like a mouse scroll wheel? If so, no thanks.
Scroll wheels are bad design because you keep having to lift your finger to bring it back up to the top to roll again. Rotary devices are quicker and easier.
The linear-style touchpad controller has two(?) speeds, fast and normal, the fast scrolling is via the top and bottom of the touchpad, with normal in the middle.
The easy of use of this touchpad will be determined by the sensitivity and acceleration of the scrolling.
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?prodid=10274
I got a Dell Digital Jukebox (whose internal parts are manufactured by Creative) in June. After 3 weeks of very light use it died on me with a hard drive error. Never again will I buy anything from Creative or Dell (especially given the fact that I had to spend over an hour on the phone and speak to 12 people to get a warranty replacement).
I recently purchased your 40 gig zen touch and can not get the music from my p.c. into the unit.It is not laid out in laymens terms,and I am about ready to send it back and get an I pod.They seem to be more user friendly.If you wish for me to keep this I need an immediate response as to how to do this